MONTANA KIDNAPPING-DEATH PENALTY

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Montana prosecutors will not seek the death penalty against a defendant charged in the killing of an Illinois man kidnapped from his Billings hotel room.

Yellowstone County Attorney Scott Twito announced the decision Monday in the case of Simon Jacobson, who's charged with deliberate homicide and other crimes in the January death of 29-year-old Dejuan Laster.

Jacobson and an accomplice allegedly posed as FBI agents to kidnap Laster and his girlfriend from the Extended Stay America hotel during a robbery. Investigators say Jacobson later admitted to shooting Laster and hiding his body in a culvert in a rural area of Yellowstone County.

He's being held on $1 million bail after pleading not guilty.

Montana Chief Public Defender William Hooks says his office had been preparing for a potential death penalty case.